


How to Make Friends

by RinChanSanMatsuoka



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bullying, Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, Gen Work, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 22:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6348142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinChanSanMatsuoka/pseuds/RinChanSanMatsuoka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A transfer student is determined to become Haru's friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Make Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InkWitch (serkestic)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serkestic/gifts).



> Happy birthday to Zahra, who wanted platonic fic! I really liked the "Rin and Haru grow up together" AU so I went with that one.

School had never been something Haru had ever really enjoyed.  It was full of loud, screaming children, giving Haru little peace to think.  While he enjoyed the art projects, everything else was a bore for him.  Every day he would ask his grandmother to let him stay home, because it would be so much easier to just learn from books in the peace of his own home.  But each time she would simply tell him that school would be good for him and that he would make a friend soon enough.

Huffing out a sigh, Haru stared out the classroom window, barely listening to the teacher.  She had mentioned something about a new student transferring into their class.  Poor kid, really.  Transferring into class a month into the school year would probably make it hard to fit in.  Not that it was any of his business.

“Hello! My name is Matsuoka Rin! I have a girly name, but I’m a boy!”

Haru frowned at the strange introduction, turning his gaze to the front of the classroom.  He took in the bright red hair and the even brighter smile and instantly felt annoyed.  The boy seemed loud.

Furthering his annoyance, his teacher assigned Matsuoka to the desk beside him and the boy practically bounced over to his seat.  Matsuoka must have felt him staring, because he directed that brilliant grin at Haru, mouth full of crooked and missing baby teeth.

* * *

Ignoring Matsuoka proved to be more difficult than Haru had anticipated.  During every little break they had, the other boy tried talking with Haru, seemingly intent on making friends with him.  By the time school was finished, Haru was tired and he desperately wished that the other boy would make a friend.  Someone other than him, that was.

Despite the mental exhaustion, Haru hurried home to change for swim club.  He gave his grandmother a quick hug before hurrying out the door, not wanting to be late to the best part of his day.

Haru had been hesitant at first, not wanting to be around more loud children, but with his grandmother’s gentle encouragement, he had agreed.  The first day in the pool had been one of his best.  Swimming always woke up something inside Haru, making him feel _alive._   When his grandmother had asked if he wanted to back, he had hastily nodded, trying and failing to put into words how he had felt.

Iwatobi Swimming Club was his refuge from the outside world, his own little slice of serenity in a world he felt disconnected from.

That is until he was greeted with a loud “Nanase, I didn’t know you swam!”

Haru froze in his tracks as he entered the locker room, frowning when he caught sight of red hair and a gap-toothed smile.  “I do,” he mumbled, turning to his locker to get changed.

Matsuoka, however, didn’t seem content to leave it at that as he came over to bother Haru further.  “What style do you swim?  I’m learning all of them!  I wanna be a great swimmer, just like my dad!”

“I only swim free.”  With that, Haru pulled on his swim trunks and slammed his locker shut.  Before Matsuoka could say anything else, he turned away and left the room.

* * *

Thankfully, practice kept Matsuoka distracted, giving Haru the peace and quiet he had been craving.  But as soon as they were finished and back in the locker room, Matsuoka opened his mouth again.  An excited stream of babble spewed forth, making Haru tense slightly.

He ignored him as best as he could, changing in a hurry in an attempt to put distance between the two of them.

Only to find out that Matsuoka lived in the same direction that he did.  _Fantastic._

“Your swimming is so beautiful, Nanase!  I wanna swim the front crawl like you!  How do you do it?”  There was a bounce in Matsuoka’s step as he walked ahead of Haru, turning around to grin at him.

Scowling, Haru quickened his pace, trying to leave Matsuoka behind.  “Embrace the water and you’ll swim better.  That’s what my grandma said.”

“Wow, your grandma sounds pretty smart!  My grandma’s pretty cool, too, y’know!  She’s the last _ama_ in Iwatobi, after all!”  The pride in the other boy’s voice was crystal clear as he spoke.  “She taught my dad how to swim and he taught me how to swim!  I guess swimming is in our blood or something.  Grandma said that once.  Which is why I wanna be the best swimmer ever!”

Haru glanced over at the other boy, cursing his own curiosity about Matsuoka’s family.  The importance water played in their lives made him feel almost envious.  “Your grandma sounds pretty cool, I guess,” he mumbled, not wanting to see too interested.

“Right?  I’m gonna make both of them proud some day!  Everyone’s gonna hear about Matsuoka Rin!”  Matsuoka let out a laugh, the sound loud in the evening quiet.  “Hey Nanase, where do you live?  Maybe we’re close to each other!”

For a moment, Haru wondered if telling Matsuoka would be alright, because the last thing he needed was the redhead bothering him at home.  Sighing, he supposed he could be vague about it.  “I live up the shrine steps.”

“Really?  I live a block away from the steps!  We’re really close, Nanase!  We should hang out sometime!”

The suggestion caught Haru off guard and he stopped walking, frowning at Matsuoka.  “Why?”

Matsuoka didn’t look the least bit sheepish about suggesting something so ridiculous.  Instead, he simply grinned and said, “Because we’re friends now, right?  Ah, but I really need to hurry home.  I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Nanase!” 

With a small wave, the boy turned and ran down the street, leaving a very confused Haru behind.

Is this how people made friends?

* * *

That question had plagued Haru that night and into the next morning.  He decided not to mention it to his grandmother, wanting to see if Matsuoka would bring it up again.

When it was time for morning recess, Matsuoka turned to him and said, “I’m gonna get something to drink.  Then do you wanna play outside?”

Still curious about this whole “friend” thing, Haru simply nodded and decided to wait at his desk.  After five whole minutes – he checked the clock to be sure – waiting was starting to get boring.  It shouldn’t take Matsuoka that long to get some water or juice.

Telling himself that he had nothing better to do and that this wasn’t because he actually cared about being friends, Haru got up from his desk and looked out into the hallway.  The drinking fountain beside their class was empty, which meant Matsuoka had probably gone to the cafeteria for a juice box.

Haru sighed as he started making his way through the halls.  Thankfully the cafeteria wasn’t far from the first grade classrooms, so it didn’t take him too long to get there.

Rounding the corner, Haru expected to find Matsuoka stuck in a long line for the juice vending machine.  He didn’t expect to find the redheaded boy on the ground, knees scraped and juice spilled on the floor.

The hallway went quiet as he stared at Matsuoka’s skinned knees before he lifted his gaze to the boys surrounding him.  Haru recognized them as boys from the class next door, all bigger than Matsuoka.  His eyes narrowed as he also realized that they were the same ones who had made fun of him for his name at the start of the year.  Maybe they had decided to do the same to Matsuoka.

Gritting his teeth and smothering his dislike of conflict, Haru stepped forward.  He went over to Matsuoka, glaring at the other boys.  “Leave him alone or else.”

A smug sense of satisfaction filled him as the boys scattered, mumbling something about not wanting to mess with the creepy kid.  Turning his attention back to Matsuoka, Haru held out a small hand to help the other boy up.

Matsuoka’s hand grabbed his own, sticky from the spilled juice, and he let Haru pull him to his feet.  His eyes were brimming with tears, a few fat drops slipping down his cheeks.  Small fingers gripped Haru’s hand tightly as he wiped his face with his free hand.

“Let’s go to the nurse.  I’ll hold your hand but only until we get there, okay?”  Haru gently tugged on Matsuoka’s hand, leading the other boy to the nurse.

As they walked, Matsuoka’s sniffles slowly lessened.  “Why did you help me?” he asked, voice softer than Haru had thought possible.

Thinking over the question for a moment, Haru simply shrugged.  “We’re friends or something, aren’t we?”

Matsuoka stopped walking, bringing Haru to a halt as well.  “Really?”  His voice shook, as though he couldn’t believe that anyone would actually want to be friends with him.

“Really.”  Haru tugged on his hand again, pulling him along to the nurse.

“But how did you get them to leave?  All you did was tell them to stop and they listened!  It was pretty cool, actually.”

Haru glanced over at Matsuoka briefly, seeing the small smile on his face.  Well, at least he had stopped crying.  “They tried doing that to me, at the start of school.  Because of my name.  So I just pretended I was best friends with a ghost and it scared them.  It was kinda funny.”

When Matsuoka started laughing, Haru felt his own lips quirk upward.

“Well, I’m glad your ghost friend helped me, even if they’re not real,” Matsuoka said, still laughing softly.  “Um, if you want, you can call me Rin.  Since we’re friends now.”

“Okay.  Call me Haru.”


End file.
